Tree Debris to Be Cleared from Wilson Blvd Sidewalk

Arlington County says crews will be clearing tree debris from the busy Wilson Blvd sidewalk in front of Colonial Village today.

The tree supposedly came down this past Sunday, according to parks department spokeswoman Susan Kalish, but the resident who first emailed ARLnow.com to ask about the safety hazard said it actually came down Tuesday, during Superstorm Sandy. Regardless of when it fell, the tree remains have been blocking the sidewalk ever since, forcing pedestrians to either walk up a small hill or into the street to get around it. It also blocked a bus stop and a bike lane, forcing bicyclists out into a vehicle travel lane.

The tree was on private property — near the intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Troy Street, just down the street from the Courthouse area — and Kalish said the county was not notified that it was blocking a sidewalk until ARLnow.com asked about it yesterday.

“According to a property manager at Colonial Village the tree fell Sunday night. They did not have an opportunity to remove it or contact us regarding it until we checked into it for [ARLnow.com],” she said. “The Parks team will clear the sidewalk today.”

Lesson: When there’s a need for action, don’t assume that it has been reported. Report it yourself.

Mack

Better lesson: Have that rotting tree removed before it falls on somebody.

bob

Two blocks from HQ and nobody noticed? I guess the worker bees there never walk….

drax

Nor did a single citizen apparently.

Most probably assumed it was already reported. Nothing unusual about that whatsoever.

Mick

I should think County road crews would be out there routinely patrol the streets. Guess not.

Must be the same crackerjack team than is responsible for clearing the snow from the roads in the winter.

The failure of the County to handle basic bread n butter services while getting hip deep in accessory dwellings, bicycle lanes, trolleys, Green building, rain parks, and more annoys, and mightily so. You can’t even get these poor souls to flip on the left turn arrows at half of the intersections in Arl County.

They are astoundingly inept and simultaneously smug.

We won’t mention the recent APS flap about school buses; after all, it’s “green” for 5 year olds to walk a mile coming and going to elementary school.

NIMBY the Chicken

What does the DES actually do anymore? How does NO ONE see this on their way into work in the morning and think they might need to bring it up… I appreciate that they have tip lines and a responsive twitter but why was this laying around for days?

drax

So if you had passed it you would have reported it immediately?

No, you would have assumed it was already reported and waiting to be taken care of, like everyone else did.

But……

Doesn’t being a 24/7 apologist for Arlington County get old ??

drax

I don’t apologize for the county. I confront what I see as silly logic. Unfortunately, lots of the silly logic spewed on this forum comes in the form of bashing the county. Not my fault.

Mick

Don’t Feed.

NIMBY The Chicken

I would, like I do whenever they re-program a traffic light that ends up ruining traffic flow. I’m still waiting for Williamsburg and Sycamore to be sorted out, but the first time I had to wait for phantom pedestrian signals I tweeted them about it. Don’t tell me what I do and don’t do, now you’re assuming.

drax

So you’re telling me you report EVERY SINGLE problem you see as you go about the County, just in case nobody else has. Every tree down after a hurricane, every light problem?

Mick

Which raises the question, if it had not eventually been called in, would the county have left it there to rot into bits. I’ve seen neighborhood brush piles sit for months. Guess the country crews figure, no call, no pickup, regardless.

Wilson Blvd is a different matter. It isn’t like some isolated country road. Someone from the county should be making routine checks of all the main roads.

These are just very basic services we’re talking about. It apparently is too boring and lowly for our pols to “manage.”

Greg

That statement from the County is wrong. That tree has been down since last week. Not only is it blocking the sidewalk, it blocks the entire parking lane, entire bike lane and part of the road. Someone put cones out there because people have been going in the street to get around it.

You would think the County would have noticed a tree in a major roadway for a week but I guess not.

Anonymous

That’s bulls**t. I notified the county (though the nonemergency police number) last week. Liars, all.

drax

What number did you call?

BDMurray

Clean up that blood!

chihuahua

Why don’t ARLNOW have a story on how long the voting lines are this morning? Especially at Courthouse. I was told it took 2.5 hours in line outside in the cold before voting can take place. Four years ago, I had no problem with any lines. Please look into how VA or Arlington screwed this up. This is voter suppression!!!!

Bicyclist

Waiting in line is very annoying, and it was mismanaged in that sense.

But voting suppression, it is not.

Mick

Not so sure….For most of us middle and upper-middle class folks, it’s just an inconvenience. But the long waits can be prohibitive to the working poor, who are often hourly employees.

This is a systemic problem. Whatever reason originally for voting on the first Tues in November (colonial market days, avoiding market days??), it is not etched in stone; it’s merely a habit.

There’s no reason why we should not have a three-day period. The first Sat, Sun, and Monday in Nov. This would offer much needed flexibility.

The current practice is archaic and a burden to many.

Bender

Democracy can be a pain. Quit your complaining about having to wait a little while. Instead of the inconvenience of simply having to stand around for a bit, other people have lost their lives in order for you to be able to cast that vote. Many of their graves are here between Rosslyn and the Pentagon.

chihuahua

OK – so please explain why there were no lines at all four years ago or eight years ago and why the lines are long this time. What did Arlington do to cause this change? How is this an improvement? THINK!

Crystal Lite

I don’t know where you voted in 2008, but the line was quite long when I voted in Courthouse last presidential election. This is a densely populated area and most people work full-time. There are not a lot of stay-at-home moms to vote during the day like there are in more “suburban” areas.

drax

“Voting Begins — Voting has begun in Arlington County and long lines are being reported at polling stations.”

For me, it was only 1.5 hours in line outside in the cold. Then another hour inside.

arlrk

Interesting. I reported a street light that had been hit by a car on Lee Highway, with broken glass and wires and metal all over the sidewalk. I never heard back from DES and it took over a week to be cleared.

Chris

The tree has been down since Sandy came through. Clearly, someone had attended to it since the tree was cut in many places, in addition to the uprooting that the storm caused. They just skipped the removal part of that process.

Matt (Colonial Village)

The Tree fell during Sandy. In fact it fell onto Wilson Blvd. at N. Troy and blocked all traffic until it was moved. I took at picture of it with my phone when it was completely blocking Wilson Blvd. but with no flash it just came out black. Anyhoo the tree has defiantly been there since Sandy struck…

tf

Funny, they make homeowners shovel the sidewalks when it snows but a tree falls from a private property and blocks a sidewalk and all the sudden it is a county problem? The property owner should get the bill from the parks department. Enough said.